Rush Hour Movie Analysis Film Studies Essay

Rush Hour Movie Analysis Film Studies Essay Rush Hour, directed by Brett Ratner one of Hollywoods most successful directors stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. It achieved commercial success and became the 7th top grossing film of 1998. The plot of the film centers on the kidnapping of the daughter of the Chinese Consol. Inspector Lee, played by Jackie Chan, is called to assist in the investigation because it is believed that the mysterious Crime Lord Juntao is behind the kidnapping. Lee finds himself paired with Detective James Carter of the Los Angeles Police Department, played by Chris Tucker. They gradually learn to work together and are able to reunite the family as well as discover the identity of Juntao. Rush Hour disrupts Hollywoods racial hierarchy by removing white culture and focusing on Asian American and African American culture. The film is able to break down the boundaries between races and change hierarchies, but the enjoyment of numerous racial ideologies that are integrated within the dialogue and scenes, p rove that the jokes influence the audience to reify their own racial beliefs. The film gained positive reviews about Tuckers comedic performance and how Chan and Tucker work very well together. This fact supports my thesis of how race-based humor naturalizes racial differences, so the audience is more likely to focus on the true aspects of a stereotype rather than challenge the exaggerated portrayal. The positive reception proves that there is a paradox between racist representations and widespread approval and acceptance. The movie targets teenagers and adults because they have preconceived notions about different racial groups. Without these conceptions, the film would not be able to garner laughter but rather offense. Rush Hour 2, directed by Brett Ratner one of Hollywoods most successful directors stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. It received high box-office revenues and is considered one of the highest grossing martial arts films of all time. This sequel to the 1998 film Rush Hour follows Inspector Lee, played by Chan, and Los Angeles Police Detective James Carter, played by Tucker, and the adventures that they have. Carter is on vacation visiting Lee in Hong Kong, but they soon find themselves implicated in a scandal that involves counterfeit money, which brings them from Hong Kong to Los Angeles and then finally to Las Vegas. Although this movie is a comedic action film, it challenges typical Hollywood films by starring two minorities. While minorities have traditionally been casted in the roles of a sidekick or villain, Chan and Tucker are the main protagonists. By challenging the popular notion that the leading role features an individual from the dominant white race, Rush Hour 2 propose s the possibility of a cross-racial bonding between an Asian and an African American. Chan and Tucker both embody the stereotype of their particular race: Chan is a serious Asian man yet extremely skilled in Kung Fu, while Tucker is a tall African American who acts childish and seems very impulsive. To the everyday viewer, this movie serves as an entertaining comedy, but for such representations of race to be humorous, the audience must unconsciously accept or believe the stereotypes to be somewhat true. Thus, supporting my thesis that besides entertainment, the movie proves that race in comedy generalizes and influences people to accept racially defined characteristics. The movie targets teenagers and adults because it implies that a previous understanding of stereotypes is needed for the jokes to make sense and have their intended response, which is laughter. This scholarly article, written by Sheng-mei Ma professor at Michigan State University who specializes in Asian American studies and East-West comparative studies documents the start of the phenomenon of pairing an Asian martial artist with an African American comedian. Ma provides a historical context to movies such as the Rush Hour series, which combine yellow kung fu and black jokes (241). He begins by noting that the genre of kung fu was introduced to the West by Bruce Lee. Although there was no prominence on black jokes in earlier kung fu films that starred Lee, The Last Dragon marks the development of racial depictions. In this film a young African American bows, meditates, and wears the stereotypical Chinese dress (240). The Asian Americans, on the other hand, take on black dialect and body rhythm (240). Ma considers the joining of yellow kung fu and black jokes a marriage of convenience for box office profit in which the public supports this collaboration. Films such as Rus h Hour contain jokes that include the common prevailing notions of Asians and blacks in American mass media, which would render yellow yellower and black blacker. However, this odd couple is able to blend with each other, creating a racial hybridity. Rush Hour focuses on the relationship between the Asian and African American stars; therefore, the film offers the likelihood of cross-racial identification. The article provides film theorists and scholars with new understandings of race-based comedy. Mas writings reinforce my thesis for the buddy-cop genre has a history of interracial partnerships where race is explicitly shown. Thus, besides validating racial differences, such performances further hybridize todays multicultural society. This expository piece, written by LeiLani Nishime Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications at the University of Washington who specializes in multiracial and interracial studies, Asian American media representations, and Asian American sub cultural production analyzes the history of Asian American and African American relations. The chapter explains how Rush Hour breaks the general conventions of a buddy-cop film and defies the norms of Hollywood film and generic character stereotype. She utilizes the film Rush Hour as an example for its portrayal of race relations with its removal of the white male character. By including Chan as well as Tucker, the film appeals to a wider range of audiences. The purpose is primarily to inform, but it also encourages the reader to examine certain films for comedic relief as well as social and cultural commentary. Rush Hour is a comedy yet it helps the audience to notice the concept of racial power. In most buddy-cop films, there is always someone in control and someone who is simply the follower. The white male will never be the buddy but with Chan and Tucker, they are almost equals. Nishime is most likely targeting Asian Americans because for an Asian American, America is characterized by both African American and Euro-American society. Rush Hour offers a vision of cross-racial identification and the idea of hybrid identities for there is a convergence of culture in music and film (48). This builds upon my thesis in that besides an acceptance of racially defined differences, race-based humor can provide a possible changing of racial hierarchy and the questioning of racial tolerance. Such a composition is more geared towards academia instead of garnering attention from the general public because it provides background information about Asian/Black relations, applies elevated language, and creates a possibility of a future state of relations. This research article, written by Ji Hoon Park Assistant Professor in Communication at Hope College who specializes in Asian stereotypes in the media- analyzes the ideological implications of racial stereotyping. The article, which is a result of sociology study, explains that though minorities are starring in more mainstream films, a racial hierarchy is still evident. The study included a focus group of whites, black, and Asians in order to analyze subtle reactions and responses to the films implicit stereotypes. Minorities continue to inhibit negative stereotypes but the contradiction that arises is that these stereotypical portrayals have commercial viability. Rush Hour 2 is an example of this incongruity between racism in comedy and widespread popularity. Park discusses how the genre of comedy allows for its audience to make an interpretation of racial jokes as harmless for stereotypes are an important element of comedy in that they help establish specific character classificati ons that are based on some truth that has been exaggerated. This supports my thesis because I contend that race-based humor influences the audience to not challenge the established assumptions of race. His study supports this belief since the focus group was able to laugh throughout the entire movie. Most participants did not find the humor personally offensive but they do acknowledge that the racial humor has the possibility of becoming prejudiced. In comedy, Park notes that a joke is conceived of as racist based on whether a minority is telling it or a white person. Another aspect that creates success for this film is that all races are objects of mockery and bias. Parks conclusion is that racial stereotypes are problematic because realism in the media encourages viewers to incorporate on-screen attitudes and beliefs into the real world (172). The purpose is primarily to inform since the study examines how race is configured within the dialogue. Racial ideology is also embedded in Jackie Chans performance of the racial myth of an Asian man who excels in kung fu but is culturally ignorant as well as Chris Tucker personifying a coon. Furthermore, with the study, it becomes clear that the comedic portrayals of racial traits encourage participants to see the small truths in racial stereotypes rather than dispute these distortions. It does prompt the audience to consider that when viewing a comedy, critical analysis is usually absent and this can lead to believe that racial differences are natural and not culturally created. Park is targeting teenagers and adults because they are able to apply actuality to racial myths and hence find amusement in the satirical portrayals of race. The anticipated audience could also include scholars since this composition was published in the Journal of Communication and scholars will be more interested in learning about the responses of black, white, and Asian viewers and how they make sense of racial differences.

Changes, Changes and More Changes!

Changes, Changes, and More Changes Hudson County Community College isn't a perfect school, but there are a lot of things that they have room to improve on. I honestly don't have many complaints about this school, I feel alright about it, I am not impressed but I am also not outraged by anything. Even though I don't have many complaints about this school it doesn't mean that I don't feel that they have things that they should improve on.The biggest problem I have with this school is the service at the main desk, then it would be the student lounge area, and last but not least the parking situation. These are all very important things to me, and these are things they should really fix. To begin, the issue of parking isn't a big deal to me personally, but I've heard so many students and professors speak and complain about it that I think it's high time something was done to fix the problem.For example, this is a college, which means that students ranging from seventeen years of age and higher, come to this school seeking a higher education. Most of these students have cars, but, this school doesn't provide any parking for these students. So that means, that they must circle around the block about three times on a good day and about ten times on a bad day, until they find parking. Do you believe that's fair? This causes students to be late for class and to miss important parts of the lecture.Now, on the other hand, teachers do have a parking area, but the parking is about ten blocks away, this of course isn't a problem if it's seventy to eighty degrees outside, but when the weather is cold, do you really think that people want to get out of their warm cars just to go out into the blistering cold, or when it's 100 plus degrees outside, do you think people want to come out of their comfortably cool cars, and sweat in the New Jersey summer heat? Secondly, the lounge are.It literally is just a lounge area, with some vending machines thrown in. Imagine yourself a studen t who has been in class since, let's say ten in the morning, and you haven't had a good 45 minute break in hours, and you're starving, so you walk down to the trusty student lounge and what do you find? You find a room with some chairs and a couple of vending machines, and not the cool kind of vending machines, that serve sandwiches or soups, but the kind that serve junk food. What would be your reaction to this? How would you feel in that instant?Of course, now you don't have time to run down to the deli and buy yourself some lunch, because everything is so far away and you just wasted a good ten minutes coming down to the student lounge and staring at the vending machines in outrage. So what are you going to do? You are either not going to buy anything, or you're going to settle for some chips and a sugar filled soda, a snack that is sure to make you crash in about twenty minutes. I honestly don't see how this is fair, if you want student's to do well in school, then you have to p rovide them with an environment where they can achieve success.Having to work through hunger and fatigue isn't going to help them succeed. This school really needs a cafeteria, where students can go and eat something healthy and filling, not just a place where they can go and eat some sugar and sit for a couple of minutes. Lastly, the issue with the main desk. I'm not sure if those ladies know what their exact job is, but I'm sure that it's not talking non-stop. I'm not saying anything bad about them, because they are extremely nice and friendly, but if they could be nice and friendly and do their job, now that would be super.I remember how my friend's cousin, was having the biggest problem with finishing his financial aid paper work last year, it literally took him a year to finish fixing them, his little brother who was a year behind him in school, finished High School and started College before he did. That's embarrassing. The fact that it took so long, the fact that he had to co ntinue coming in to bring the same papers in almost every week, and the fact that he would get attitude and poor service every time, speaks lowly about the people working in those desks.I also had a problem like this, it didn't take a whole year for me to fix my issues, but I did have to come in a bunch of times for the same problem, and to hand in papers that were later on not going to be useful in anyway. To the students of this college it is important that those women and men do their jobs, we need them, they fill up our papers, they send them to where they need to be sent, and they are supposed to make things easier for us, not the opposite, so to see that those people cause so much trouble for the students makes me think that this school has one major flaw, and this flaw can be easily dealt with.All they need to do is fire them and hire people who are more competent†¦ or if that's too extreme give them a class where they learn exactly what their job description is, since i t seems that they have forgotten it, or maybe never learned what it was. Changing some of this school biggest problems is sure to make this school become a place where other people would want to come and experience it, nobody wants to have a hard time at the main desk, or starve to death, or be late to class while looking for parking.The faster we solve these issue the faster we can start calling this establishment great, because as of now this is just a place where people come to pass the time and to get a taste of what college is like. This school isn't perfect, but it's imperfections really make people take a second thought to coming here, so the quicker we fix these problems, the quicker we can fill up the school with a lot of happy students and professors.

Legal Aspects of Criminal Justice System

Jury nullification is basically the situation wherein a certain guilty person was given the judgment â€Å"not guilty† by the set of jurors or the jury itself when that person is believed to be guilty of the crime he or she is accused of. The Jury tends to play an immoral role against his or her job which is to give justified verdict to a certain crime and thus apply an altered decision into the accused. An example of a jury nullified case is the famous case during the year 1735. This case is the trial case of John Peter Zenger charged by the former Governor of the New York Colony, William Cosby. In this case, the verdict given by the Jury to Zenger is a â€Å"not guilty verdict† wherein all the facts where given that Zenger did all the crime which he is accused of (Institute, 1992). Another case is the case of William Pen wherein he as the accused was acquitted by the set of juries. This happened in the year 1670 in London; his case was Preaching Quakerism. During this period four from the twelve chosen jurors made a non-guilty verdict which led them to spend time in prison and pay the damages they created but before they get into imprisonment, one of the judges made his plea and was able to nullify the unjust law (Institute, 1992). In the negative side of the defendant, his rights were violated because the sixth amendment says that â€Å"a defendant should not be deprived and even oppressed from his legal concerns† (FindLaw, 2008). When jury nullification occurs the defendant will be deprived from knowing what’s really happening in the court wherein the case holds his/her right to freedom. The nullification of the Jury to the case could also affect the Judge final decision about the defendant if he or she will be acquitted. Thus, the judge final judgment could henceforth be negative for the accused or the defendant because the judge may think that the defendant just influenced the Juries who voted for the accused person’s acquaintance. References FindLaw. (2008). Right to a Speedy and Public Trial [Electronic Version]. Retrieved January 16 from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment06/02.html.             Legal Aspects of Criminal Justice System Felony Disfranchisement is a process in which a convicted criminal lose his or her rights and property. It is also considered as â€Å"civil death†, whereby these persons would lose all rights and claim to property, including the right to vote. The felony disenfranchisement law was first implemented way back in ancient Romans and Greeks. Deprivation the convict’s right, confiscation of private properties and exposure to death are consequence of having a felony record during the earlier times. The Englishman gave birth to the disfranchisement of offenders in America. Nowadays, only three states in America continue to impose felony disfranchisement and the illegibility to vote to all citizens with a felony record which are states of Iowa, Kentucky, and Virginia. Conviction with felony record has its own consequence merely different from the felony disfranchisement implementation in earlier times. Today, felonies don’t have the right to vote, serve on a jury or even hold a position in the government which makes them different from an ordinary people, the lowest of the citizens. The implantation of felony disfranchisement is one of the political anomalies in America or even in other countries. As we all know, voting is a not only a privilege but a right that any man wants to exercise.  The United States Government eliminates constraints on voting whether by court or legislative action. The citizens convicted by felony are the only few who can not exercise their voting rights during elections (Rockville, 1986). Most of the pro – disfranchisement are arguing that giving the ex-felons a right to vote may serve as a risk in the society since an election process is a essential activity for the development of a state.  Pro – disfranchisement cited some problems that may occur when a offender is given a right to cast a vote. They say that it may harm the law if changed, voter fraud may occur or the â€Å"purity† of ballots may be affected (cited in Human rights Watch). These reasons are some of those who make the ex-felons unrightfully voters. A good example of a convicted felon was Richardson v. Ramirez who was barred from voting without violating the Fourteenth Amendment. Richardson v. Ramirez leaves open a valid claim that the unequal enforcement of disfranchisement laws is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs argued that California counties’ different interpretations of â€Å"infamous crime† meant that the law was unequally applied. The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to the California Supreme Court to decide this issue, but before it could rule, California changed its law (Brennan 2007). A guy named Baker v. Pataki from New York City was a very good example of â€Å"purposeful racial discrimination† having him convicted by felony. A mixed Afro-American Latino challenged New York’s federal court who denied the votes of several felony offenders, in prison or on parole. He said that these act is merely against the Voting Rights Act 1968 since it has a disproportionate racial impact. The lower court however dismissed the case reasoning that the U.S Supreme court in Richardson v. Ramirez upheld the disfranchisement law. They also found that Voting Rights Act did not apply to such laws. The effect of felony disfranchisement law has been drastically implemented in the past century since there are increasing numbers of criminals that are sentenced by felony; they are sent to prison and stay there for a long time. Voting is a right, and equal right must be given to a citizen even if he or she was an offender of the law. Issues in racial discrimination and human rights must take into consideration. References Human Rights Watch and the Sentencing Project (October 1998). Losing the vote: the impact of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   felony disenfranchisement laws in the united states. Retrieved January 17, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.hrw.org/reports98/vote/ Westat, Inc. (December 1986). Historical corrections statistics in the united states.                                                                                                         

Genocide in Darfur Essay examples - 1155 Words

Genocide in Darfur Darfur is the western region of the African country of Sudan. Currently, the people of Darfur have been continually attacked by the Sudanese army and by proxy-militia controlled by the Sudanese government. Families are being uprooted and starved, children tormented and murdered by the thousands and women raped without punishment. Innocent civilians in Darfur continue to be victims of unthinkable brutality. Many people have become homeless and seek protection in refugee camps in Chad. Yet despite its outward appearance, Darfur has a vast ethnic diversity and a complex, ancient system of resolving conflict. Genocide has occurred in several places around the world, but in Darfur there are certain reasons why it†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, the region of Darfur is about the size of Texas. Its enormity is one of the sources of the current conflict because most of Darfur is not easily accessible. Traveling in and out of the secluded areas is very tou gh. There are an unfortunately small amount of all-weather roads. The attackers can travel the terrain much more easily, making it even more difficult for the villagers. The isolated areas make it hard for journalists and humanitarian workers to learn about the activity in the region. This makes it also not easy to gauge the actual number of people affected by the desolation of famine and warfare. In addition, Darfur’s terrain can be classified into four individual sections: mountains, basement rock, watercourses, and sand. In Darfur a large amount of the arable land consists of goz (soil sediment where vegetation grows). Goz can be useful for farming but primarily offers land for grazing herds. Then, through a process the land around the watercourses and the goz makes the land fertile. Each year the land becomes less arable. Also desertification (process that includes arable land decreasing and the desert area increasing), deforestation, the drought and over use of the land have fueled the conflict between various tribal groups. This has caused most of Darfur’s population to become dependent on the southern region. 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